Current Events > Stranger of Paradise reviews are coming in

(+) Yeah! (+)

73 on Metacritic, but the big outlets I've read seem more positive on it:
https://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-5/stranger-of-paradise-final-fantasy-origin

https://www.ign.com/articles/stranger-of-paradise-final-fantasy-origin-review

Like the show Lost and other stories that revolve around some grand mystery, Stranger of Paradise's plot had me theorizing and scratching my head until the very final moments, when all is revealed in a way that brings everything together. However, where Lost used memorable characters and turning-point moments to carry the story forward prior to the big reveals, Stranger of Paradise misses the mark on its cast and instead solely relies on its solid action gameplay, only offering vague and often indecipherable clues to whats going on. Its lack of real character development beyond your party of five run-of-the-mill characters making small talk and reiterating their need to find and kill an entity known as Chaos that threatens the world means I wont be uttering their names in the same breath as Final Fantasy greats like Cloud and Yuna or even necessarily remembering them a month from now.
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There are 28 jobs in total, each with their own skill trees, so theres a lot of room to experiment and find combos that synergize well in your party, defining your playstyle. You can equip any two jobs on your character (and one on each of your companions, who you indirectly control), and while you can only have one active at any given time the fact that youre able to swap between them at the press of a single button lets you extend combos creatively and synergistically. You can mix and match jobs however you like, such as combining two glass-cannon Mage jobs to build up your Intellect stat and make your spells hit harder and stun enemies by rapidly overwhelming their Break gauge, or you might combine Berserker and Warrior so that you can use the Warriors War Cry HP-regeneration skill to offset the Berserkers inability to use healing potions while maintaining your Berserk status, which increases your offensive and defensive powers for a limited time. Alternatively, tanky jobs like Paladin and Knight can be combined for increased HP and stamina to reduce the impact incoming damage has on your Break gauge.

https://venturebeat.com/2022/03/14/stranger-of-paradise-final-fantasy-origin-review-strange-ugly-fun/

Despite Stranger of Paradises ugly graphics, shallow characters, and nonsensical script, the game is fun. Team Ninja has created an interesting combat system that combines elements of trendy Dark Souls-inspired RPGs with classic Final Fantasy staples, like tier-based magic and job classes.

https://www.polygon.com/22973082/stranger-of-paradise-final-fantasy-origin-early-review-ps5-xbox-series-x-pc

Stranger of Paradise supplements its action-adventure trappings with Final Fantasys tried-and-true job system. Players may switch among jobs like Swordfighter, Ronin, Pugilist, and Mage, each with its own weapons and unique stat bonuses. This means that menus are king in this game. If youre aiming to swap in the best gear and keep your skill trees updated, youll probably be surfing menus every time you reach a checkpoint. The maps are littered with dozens of items, including armor and weapons, and youll accumulate them quickly. (Less than eight hours into my playthrough, I maxed out the 500-item limit.)

Thus, Stranger of Paradises biggest downfall is how menu-dependent the gameplay is. For example, you pick levels from a map, but you know nothing about the world it displays. Strangely enough, cutscenes and other story-specific content are also accessed from the main menu, instead of in the world itself, which is what I expected from a traditional Final Fantasy game. The menu-based narrative makes the game feel slightly incomplete.

https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/stranger-of-paradise-final-fantasy-origin-review-chaos-incarnate/1900-6417844/

This long, confusing digression about Chaos exemplifies the strange and somewhat bewildering take on Final Fantasy that is Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin. This game is part remake, part reimagining, and part new chapter for the original Final Fantasy from way back in 1987. But it's a version of Final Fantasy with a lot of the Final Fantasy-ness strained out. What's left is a streamlined version of the venerated RPG series that is both a blast to play, thanks to its excellent and varied combat mechanics, and perplexing as hell on nearly every level.

Tl;dr: the graphics and story are laughable, the combat is fun, there might be too much loot to handle.

Inb4 anything below a 9 is trash BS.

Tl;dr: a lot of not killing Chaos going on

Sounds boring.

It sounds like its' leaning into the same vein as Nioh then. Where it's really the combat and loot system that keeps you wanting to play.

Antifar posted...

Tl;dr: the graphics and story are laughable, the combat is fun, there might be too much loot to handle.

That's the impression the demo gave off and the demo got me to buy it, so if that's how the game is as a whole, it sounds good to me.

Antifar posted...

the combat is fun, there might be too much loot to handle

From the demo, both of these are true. I was already getting to the point where I would just hit the Optimize button and let the game decide what was the best armor for me.

Game seems like a banger, story be damned. I just bought Elden Ring so itll be a while before I get to this game

I will question the validity of any written review that doesn't use the word 'Chaos' at least three times.

Isn't 73 the score Mass Effect Andromeda, the worst game in human history, discounting the worse games, got?

Yikes.

I guess it's good enough to play for the lulz if such a flawed game is getting a 73.

this sounds like the type of game i would try on Game Pass for a bit then move on. lol

Is it another sausage fest? Wbere is yuna and lightning types?

Antifar posted...

Tl;dr: the graphics and story are laughable, the combat is fun, there might be too much loot to handle.

Definitely final fantasy nioh for sure. I'll be there on the 18th since I loved me some nioh/actually enjoyed the trial for stranger of paradise but man do I agree with the too much loot criticism, lol.

I would get that early release but I'm going to need these 4 days to finish up elden ring.

angeleyes94 posted...

Is it another sausage fest? Wbere is yuna and lightning types?

2 of the 5 main characters are female.

angeleyes94 posted...

Is it another sausage fest? Wbere is yuna and lightning types?

Jack, Ash and Jed are just the starting party. There's also Neon and Sophia.

I love it, but it's kind of a game that you'll either enjoy semi-ironically or you'll hate.

The game play is excellent, though.

Looks like I'll enjoy it based off these reviews. Been wanting a good action game that makes you wanna experiment.

Despite Stranger of Paradises ugly graphics, shallow characters, and nonsensical script, the game is fun. Team Ninja has created an interesting combat system that combines elements of trendy Dark Souls-inspired RPGs with classic Final Fantasy staples, like tier-based magic and job classes.

An honest review. I'll play it just not at full price.

It's the Star Ocean 5 of Final Fantasy games. Fanboys will claim it's good in some stupid way but it's just shit

Releasing a 7/10 Soulslike almost immediately after Elden Ring is a bit of a tough sell.

Gamers certainly are an ornery bunch

These are the best reviews tbh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx7FF97Ucj4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3t5Ni1RW8s

Punished_Blinx posted...

Releasing a 7/10 Soulslike almost immediately after Elden Ring is a bit of a tough sell.

If I'm being honest as someone who can't "git gud" at Soulslikes, I've had no problems playing this on Normal...so it definitely doesn't scratch the same itches as the typical Soulslike, but more like a semi-hard action game

Punished_Blinx posted...

Releasing a 7/10 Soulslike almost immediately after Elden Ring is a bit of a tough sell.

They aren't really very similar, tbh.

Just like Nioh wasn't really a Souls game.

obsolete posted...

An honest review. I'll play it just not at full price.

Honestly, the price is a major roadblock for me. This does not look like something that should cost standard AAA game prices, and yet every place I look they sell it at that level.

I really need it to be at least 20% cheaper.

DeadBankerDream posted...

Honestly, the price is a major roadblock for me. This does not look like something that should cost standard AAA game prices, and yet every place I look they sell it at that level.

I really need it to be at least 20% cheaper.

Honestly though in the ps4 life cycle I've never played a AAA game that was worth full price unless it was the years later all in one version.

DarkRoast posted...

They aren't really very similar, tbh.

Just like Nioh wasn't really a Souls game.

Nioh is definitely a souls-like

I'll probably get this when it's cheaper. The cringyness of the story actually sounds like a selling point to me

Watched a little of a playthrough yesterday and this game looks kinda janky outside of the graphics. Is the scene-to-scene editing really that choppy or is it my video? Just weird to see, like a collection of scenes clumsily stapled together. Maybe it'll get better.